Please help me with my essay.

[happyare]

Howdy! It's the crazy teenager who's trying to start a bike club at school. I'm also writing a persuasive essay in my English class trying to persuade my peers to ride their bikes to school. I've found a few useful rescouces, but most of the stuff out there isn't exactly useful. The most useful thing I found is a quotation from the California Diver's Handbook. Does anyone have good statistics or other information?

[JayH]

http://www.transalt.org/

I mentioned this in my response to your other thread. Contact somebody there and they should be able to help you. They might have some advocacy articles there and stuff. Some of it is particular to NYC but some of it could just be general statistics on the benefits of cycling.  

Good Luck.

Also, check out your town or county's Department of Transportation (DOT) as they may have actual resources on bike commuting.  I know some counties here where I live in NJ publish bike maps and good bike routes and they may have an actual bike coordinator who is in charge of all the bike paths and bike lanes.  

Jay

[FredHiltz]

Amazon can show you many books on bicycle commuting, where you can find statistics and useful advice. Check your library also. I can recommend The Complete Book of Bicycle Commuting by John Stewart Allen. He commutes in Boston! This book has all the numbers you could want.  Useful for parents as well as the children, it also tells how to ride safely in traffic. Why cyclists should not ride facing traffic, for example, or how to turn left in oncoming traffic.

My own testimonial: after reading John's book I commuted 13 miles each way into downtown Boston for 14 years without a scratch from traffic. (I did kill a cat, but that is another story.)

Fred

[JaphyR]

http://www.critical-mass.org/

Have you heard of critical mass?  It is the idea that bicyclists belong on the road, and you might find the ideas relevant to what you are trying to do.  It is persuasion by action, and could be used very effectively in your essay.

Check out Alaskan Moonlight:  14,000 Miles Around North America by Bicycle www.wanderingphotographer.com/akml/

[scott.laughlin]

Try sending an email to the editor of Oregon Cycling Magazine .  Also, try Mark Lancing:  Mark is a bicycle attorney and writer. Maybe he can provide you with the information you need.  

Let us know how you do.

Scott Laughlin
scott.laughlin@att.net

[happyare]

Thanks for all your help!

I can't include more than three counter arguments in my essay and I'm having trouble deciding which ones to address. I know I should include that bicycles are in fact vehicles, not toys and based on my peer editing, I need to adress the concerns of people who live far away from the school. My dad tells me that I should talk about bicycle safety and how bicycles are not unsafe. I think I covered that when I showed that bicycles are vehicles. Bicycle safety might make my essay too bulky. Do I really need to include it? My peers didn't mention it.

[scott.laughlin]

I don't know how much time you have to complete this essay.  Have you considered writing it all out, use all the information you have, then boil id down to the three most powerful arguments.  Sleep on it overnight and then give it your best shot.

[happyare]

My essay is due this Thursday and I'm doing well on it. Check out this great word combination I came up with:
 
confident, competent, and comfortable

I use these words to tell teenagers what cycling will do to their driving skills. This is my favorite part of my essay so far.

[scott.laughlin]

Press On

Allow us to see it when it's finished.

[happyare]

My essay is finished and I got an A. Please E-mail me if you would like to read it.

that crazy teenager,
Hapward Weird Annoying I. Are